Article removal device for glovebox

ABSTRACT

An article removal device for a glovebox comprising a conduit extending through a glovebox wall which may be closed by a plug within the glovebox, and a fire-resistant container closing the outer end of the conduit and housing a removable container for receiving pyrophoric or otherwise hazardous material without disturbing the interior environment of the glovebox or adversely affecting the environment outside of the glovebox.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,776,284

Guyer et al. Dec. 4, 1973 ARTICLE REMOVAL DEVICE FOR [56] ReferencesCited GLOVEBOX UNITED STATES PATENTS [75] inventors: Raymond H. Guyer,Longmont; 1,384,780 7/1921 Sager 141/65 Robert G. Leebl, Arvada both of3,165,386 2/1963 Kapeker 141/65 Colo.

Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the UnitedStates Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, DC.

Filed: Jan. 20, 1972 Appl. No.2 219,302

US. Cl 141/65, 128/1 R, 141/392, 312/1 Int. Cl B65b 31/04 Field ofSearch 141/8, 59, 63, 64, 141/65, 325, 326, 327, 392; 292/247; 312/1;

Primary ExaminerHouston S. Bell, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Frederick R. Schmidt Attorney-John A. Horan 5 7ABSTRACT An article removal device for a glovebox comprising a conduitextending through a glovebox wall which may be closed by a plug withinthe glovebox, and a fireresistant container closing the outer end of theconduit and housing a removable container for receiving pyrophon'c orotherwise hazardous material without disturbing the interior environmentof the glovebox or adversely affecting the environment outside of thegloveboxv 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures ARTICLE REMOVAL DEVICE FORGLOVEBOX.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The use of gloveboxes or dryboxes is-widespreadfor handling and treating materials,.particularly hazardous materials,in a controlled or contained environment. Some materials, which arecapable of igniting spontaneously when exposed to air or which present adanger of contaminating surrounding work areas, are among those handledor treated in such boxes. These gloveboxes generally contain viewingwindows, gloves to permit work functions without personnelcontamination, access ports, service ports, etc. Some processesrequirethat there be .a negative pressure within the glovebox andalsothat there be an inert gas environment. Thus, workers may properlyconduct work in an environment distinct from the exterior environment.

The .use of these enclosedatmosphere gloveboxes may present a problem ofremoving samples or workpieces without affecting the type of environmentin use or without presenting a hazard to personnel in the environmentoutside of the glovebox. Many of these samples or articles, particularlyin the nuclear processing industry, are pyrophoric and may present theadditional hazard of possibly contaminating the surrounding area withradioactive nuclear materials if not properly handled. Further,lubricating fluids and related materials used in working within thesegloveboxes may be contaminated and may spread this contamination duringa sample removal process.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION In light of the foregoing, it is an object of thisinvention to provide a novel article removal device for a glovebox ordrybox for removal of pyrophoric and/or contaminated materials fromwithin the glovebox to minimize fire hazard and contamination spread.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a sample removalmeans which may prevent passage of fluid during use of glovebox andduring sample removal.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a sample removaldevice which permits removal of sam ples from within the glovebox andplacing of samples into the glovebox without adversely affecting theenclosed atmosphere under negative pressure.

Various other objects and advantages will appear from the followingdescription of one embodiment of the invention, and the most novelfeatures will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection withthe appended claims. It will be understood that various changes in thedetails, materials, and arrangements of the parts which are hereindescribed and illustrated in order to explain the nature of thisinvention may be made by those skilled in the art.

The invention comprises a conduit or tubular passage member extendingthrough a glovebox wall having at its interior end a plug cover with anaperture extending therethrough, and at the other extremity a metal orfire-resistant container enclosing, in sealing arrangement, a removableinner container for sample removal.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective, partly cross-sectionalview of one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. is a fragmented, cross-sectional view of the mating arrangement ofthe container to the flange mounting means;

FIG. 3 is a detailed perspective: view of a plug cover with ridges andaperture; and I FIG. 4 illustrates a cutaway segment of this inventionapplied to a multiwalled glovebox with shielding material betweenthewalls.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the sample removaldevice 10 for a glovebox 11. As shown in FIG. 1, the sample removaldevice 10 includes a conduit or tubular passage member 13 having aninternal passageway or chamber 14 communicating with the interior andexterior of glovebox 11.

At the exterior of glovebox 11, a removable inner container 24 may bepositioned over the end of passageway 14 of conduit 13 to receivearticles or samples transported through passageway 14 and held there inthe desired removable fashion. Conduit or tubular member 13 may includea tubular base plate or laterally extending flange means 25 adapted toreceive or mate with the open end of inner container 24 to pro vide agood mating arrangement therewith. A spring bias 29 may retain pressureagainst inner container 24 by means of inner container base plate 30 andhold container 24 against laterally extending flange means 25, and overthe exterior opening of conduit 13 and passageway 14. Struts 31,preferably of bowed configuration toallow easy grasping of innercontainer 24, may be used to align or set the distances from thelaterally extending flange means 25 to the inner container sup portingbase plate 35 by means of adjusting or positioning nuts 36 and nuts 38as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Retaining nuts (not shown) may retain baseplate 35 in a desired position. Adjustable wing nuts 37 maintain or setthis distance so that once adjustable nuts 36 and nuts 38 and wing nuts37are appropriately positioned or adjusted, the inner container 24 maybe removed by downward compression of the spring bias 29 and another orthe same inner container replaced without movement of any positioningmeans.

A metal or otherwise fire-resistant housing-41 may be appropriately andremovably mounted and positioned about container 24 and its supportingand bias arrange ment and firmly or hermetically sealed thereabout toprovide an enclosed system with passageway 14, aperture 19 and gloveboxl1 interior. The metal container 41 is shown with protruding ears 42 ontwo sides of said metal container 41, said ears being adapted to go inengagement with correspondingly shaped rings 43 mounted on the latchmeans 47.. Latch means 47 are integrally connected to a bar 48 which isheld in place by means of wing nuts 37 against laterally extendingflange means or base plate 25. Latch means 47 are so designed that whenreleased, the latching rings 43 swing out and thus allow insertion andgripping of protruding ears 42 when the latch means 47 are again closed.An annular seat or cover 49 having a central opening communicating withpassageway 14 may be fitted between latch means 47 in sealing engagementwith base plate 25 and may be used to. grip and seal the open end ofmetal housing 41. If desired, a circumferential washer 46 as shown inFIG. 2 may be joined to annular cover 49 in order to provide greaterrigidity. In one embodiment of this invention, the protruding lip 53extending around the metal housing annular cover 49 mates with the canal54 of the metal housing 41 to form a seal which may be hermetic. Locatedwithin the chamber 55 of metal housing 41 when housing 41 is mated withcover 49 may be the inner container 24 and mounting assembly consistingof inner container base plate 30, spring 29, and bottom base plate 35.

A particularly well adapted metal housing 41 may be easily prepared byobtaining a suitably sized paint-type can and lid, removing the centerfrom the lid, making appropriate passages through said lid to connectthe struts 31 to the wing nuts 37 through the lid, then placing asupport washer under the lid while tightening wing nuts 37 to thelaterally extending flange means 25 to use the lid as cover 49. Thecontainer cover 49 may be joined to the laterally extending flange means25 by means of a suitable adhesive, or by welding, or by appropriatenuts 38 and 37 with struts 31 to provide an adequate seal and thusprovide rapid replacement of inner containers 24. The paint can may haveor be provided with handle hinge protrusions or ears 42 to enableadaptation to the ring latches 43.

At the interior of the glovebox 11, a plug cover 15, which may be fittedover the opening of passageway 14 as shown in FIG. 3, may include acircumferential cutout or recess 16 area forming a stopper flange 17 anda grip flange 18 thereby enabling easy grasping and handling of the plugcover with gloved hands. Plug cover 15 may also include an aperture 19extending through the plug cover 15 providing means for evacuation andmaintenance at controlled atmosphere of tubular passage chamber 14 andany chamber or container coupled to passageway 14 at the exterior end ofthe tubular member 13. Aperture 19 size is determined by the use whichis to be made of the glovebox but is preferably sufficiently small so asto minimize or prevent passage of fluids or solids into conduit ortubular passage chamber 14 and any chamber communicating therewithwithout blocking desired evacuation of passageway l4. Aperture l9diameters which have been used are from about one-eighth inch to aboutonequarter inch. Plug cover 15 may also include two or more raised guideridges 20 on surface 21 of plug cover 15, said surface may extend intopassageway 14 to provide easy insertion and removal of plug cover 15into tubular member passageway 14. For this purpose, underside wall 22of the bottom flange 17 of the plug cover 15 is in flush fitrelationship with the end wall 23 of the tubular passage member 13 so asto eliminate fluid or solid passage therebetween.

To use this invention after it is installed, latch means 47 may bereleased allowing the metal housing 41 to be removed. An inner container24 of predetermined size is positioned on the inner container base 30and the metal housing 4] replaced. When a specimen (not shown) is readyto be removed, the plug cover 15 is raised and the sample slipped intothe tubular passageway 14. The plug cover 15 may then be replaced, or ifpreferred, left open to assure continuous evacuation of the conduit intothe glovebox because of the negative pressure within the glovebox,thereby also preventing passage of fluids to external environment duringinner container 24 exchange. Latch means 47 may then be released, andthe housing 41' and inner container 24 then removed and processed asrequired. Because of the small aperture 19 in the plug cover 15, theenvironment within the glovebox 11 is not objectionably affected and, inturn, neither is there contamination of the environment external to theglovebox. Another inner container 24 may then be put into appropriateposition and clamped in place by biased plate 30, the housing 41 matedwith the annular cover 49, and latch means 47 closed around theprotrusions 42 of metal housing 41. The plug cover 15 then, at theoperators option, may be removed and replaced in order to quickly purgethe sample removal device 10. Although plug cover 15 has been describedas having an aperture 19, the same effect may be realized by not havingsaid aperture 19 in cover 15 but by having a conduit or tubular member32 communicating between conduit 13 and the internal environment ofglovebox 11 as shown in FIG. 4. Member 32 may be of any suitable lengthand inner diameter, and one-half inch long members with about one-eighthinch toabout one-quarter inch inner diameters have been successfullyused.

The sample removal device 10 may be made from any suitable materialcompatible with the glovebox wall 12 of the glovebox 11 and with thematerials to be handled or treated. Examples of materials which lendthemselves to this use are aluminum, stainless steels, carbon steels,nonferrous metals, plastic lined ferrous and nonferrous materials, etc.The inner container may be made of a suitable material such as paper,plastic,

- cardboard, metal, etc.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this invention isnot limited to the configuration illustrated in the drawings and that itmay be modified to be incorporated into any conventional gloveboxdesign. For example, the sample removal device 10 may be installed in anexisting access port so as not to penetrate a glovebox wall and tofacilitate installation of the device. The sample removal device 10 maybe readily employed with gloveboxes or dryboxes having a plurality ofwalls, as in FIG. 4, or through gloveboxes which incorporate shieldingmaterials in the space 26 between glovebox walls 27, 28 as for example,neutron shielding materials such as steel and iron balls with waterinterspersed, or such as gelled water solutions as shown in FIG. 4,wherein gelling maybe provided by several'means such as polyacrylamides,gelatine and gelatine derivatives, and inorganic silica sols. i

It must be further noted that the latching means presented in thedrawing and described herein does not limit the invention to theparticular latch means described. For example, the latch means may beincorporated on the housing with the latch mating portion on the housingmating component. It is possible also to use latch means that enable thehousing to be removed and slipped into position without complete removalof the housing and by the use of clip type latch means.

Neither is this invention to be limited to the removal of samples sinceby the use of a short passageway, a hook type tool or other graspingdevice, samples could be placed into the glovebox without difficulty bymeans of the sample removal device hereinabove described.

Sample removal devices of this construction have been successfully usedin the processing of plutonium and related materials. The use of thisdevice minimizes hazards of combustion and of contamination of workareas, facilitates the maintenance of the environment within the workchamber, and minimizes knocking down or dropping sample containers,which factors are of importance in processing of nuclear materials.

What is claimed is:

1. A gloveboxsample removal device comprising a conduit penetrating aglovebox wall, laterally extending flange means carried by said conduitexteriorly of said wall, means for removably retaining an innercontainer in sealed mating engagement with said flange means such thatsaid conduit and said inner container form a continuous alignedpassageway to receive samples through said conduit from within saidglovebox, cover means, having a hole therethrough, rigidly attached tothe exterior of said flange means, with said hole being in alignmentwith said passageway, for sealing engagement with a housing generallysurrounding said inner container, and latch means rigidly connected tosaid flange means, coacting with a projection on said housing forremovably holding said housing in sealing engagement with said covermeans and surroundigng said inner container.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said cover means includes an annularprotruding sealing ridge and said housing has an annular canal formating with said annular protruding ridge for sealing engagementtherewith.

3. The device of claim 1 together with a plug carried by said conduitwithin said glovebox.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said plug has an aperture therethroughto allow evacuation of said conduit and said inner container, and saidplug has raised ridges on the periphery thereof for guiding said plug toconduit covering position.

5. The device of claim 4 wherein said aperture diam eter is from aboutone-eighth inch to about one-quarter inch.

1. A glovebox sample removal device comprising a conduit penetrating aglovebox wall, laterally extending flange means carried by said conduitexteriorly of said wall, means for removably retaining an innercontainer in sealed mating engagement with said flange means such thatsaid conduit and said inner container form a continuous alignedpassageway to receive samples through said conduit from within saidglovebox, cover means, having a hole therethrough, rigidly attached tothe exterior of said flange means, with said hole being in alignmentwith said passageway, for sealing engagement with a housing generallysurrounding said inner container, and latch means rigidly connected tosaid flange means, coacting with a projection on said housing forremovably holding said housing in sealing engagement with said covermeans and surroundigng said inner container.
 2. The device of claim 1wherein said cover means includes an annular protruding sealing ridgeand said housing has an annular canal for mating with said annularprotruding ridge for sealing engagement therewith.
 3. The device ofclaim 1 together with a plug carried by said conduit within saidglovebox.
 4. The device of claim 3 wherein said plug has an aperturetherethrough to allow evacuation of said conduit and said innercontainer, and said plug has raised ridges on the periphery thereof forguiding said plug to conduit covering position.
 5. The device of claim 4wherein said aperture diameter is from about one-eighth inch to aboutone-quarter inch.